A conservative is poised to lead liberal Canada. How did he get this far?

The TV ad begins with a blurred image set to an ominous drumbeat, suggesting that this may be the start of a documentary about, say, serial killers. Slowly the grayness on the screen reveals an unflattering picture of ... Stephen Harper, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. "Who paid for Stephen Harper's rise to the head of the party?" a female voice asks. "We do know he's very popular with right-wingers in the U.S. They have money. Maybe they helped?"

There have been times in habitually left-leaning Canada when the suggestion that a politician took money from U.S. conservatives...